Settlement reached in suit filed by boot camp inmates

Associated Press Newswires/March 29, 2002
By Tom Stuckey

Annapolis, MD -- The state has agreed to pay out about $4 million to
settle lawsuits filed on behalf of young people at three western Maryland
boot camps that were shut down two years ago because of abusive treatment of
inmates by guards. Gov. Parris Glendening ordered the camps closed in
December, 1999 after The (Baltimore) Sun reported that guards had routinely
assaulted teens at the camps where young offenders were subjected to
military-style training and discipline.

Two judges, Maryland State Police investigators and a task force appointed
by the governor concluded that the assaults were widespread and dated to
1996, when the first camps opened.

John Coale, lead lawyer for the
plaintiffs, and Assistant Attorney General Maureen Dove said Thursday the
settlement covers almost 900 inmates. "It's a good agreement" for the
Department of Juvenile Services, Dove said. "It puts this whole matter
behind them," she said. "This ... lets the department move forward."

Coale
said the agreement creates a $2.1 million fund to pay tuition for colleges
and trade schools for those former boot camp inmates who want to get an
education. He estimated 20 to 25 percent of those eligible will take
advantage of the education aid.

Ten people who suffered the worst injuries
will each receive $100,000 in four equal annual payments. Fifty other people
subjected to less severe treatment will receive a one-time payment of
$15,000 each, Coale said.

Only 60 of the almost 900 former inmates sued
before the statute of limitations expired. In addition to direct cash
payments, they will be eligible for tuition assistance for up to two years
of community college and two years at a four-year college. Those who did
not sue will be eligible for up to $10,000 in tuition assistance at a
community college or a trade school for two years.

Coale praised the state
for offering educational assistance to those who did not file suit in time.
"We felt the best thing to do was give these kids this opportunity," he
said. Dove said Department of Juvenile Justice officials believe that "for
those kids who take advantage of it, it really gives them a chance for a
different kind of life."

The settlement does not require any further action
by the state as far as management of juvenile facilities is concerned.
"When we started the negotiating process, we wanted to change the juvenile
system," Coale said.

He said the state made a good faith effort to improve
juvenile facilities over the last two years. "The systemic changes are not
in the settlement because they have already happened or the state is well on
its way to doing it," Coale said.

He said he served as lead attorney for
the class action suit without compensation. More than a dozen other lawyers
who represented former inmates will divide $690,000 in money set aside for
legal fees.

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